Trail Blazers-Timberwolves Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLDPosted Feb 03 2013 3:23PM

The Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed an offensive surge during their home winning streak, but that hasn't translated to any road success lately.

That may change against a slumping Minnesota Timberwolves team they've dominated in recent years.

The Trail Blazers look to snap a four-game road losing streak Monday night as they try to win for the 10th time in 11 trips to Minnesota.

After a season-worst six-game losing streak, Portland (24-23) has bounced back to win four of its last six. The Trail Blazers won their fourth straight on their home court with a 105-99 victory over Utah on Saturday to get within one game of eighth-place Houston in the Western Conference standings.

Now they're hoping to put an end to their recent road struggles as they begin a six-game swing against the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak with a 115-86 win over New Orleans on Saturday.

"We play a lot of guys in the West and a lot of guys we're going to be fighting for so this road trip is big for us," Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge said.

While the Trail Blazers have averaged 103.0 points on 49.7 percent shooting - including 40.2 percent from beyond the arc - during their home streak, they've scored 80.0 points per game while shooting 40.0 percent and 10 for 35 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range in their last two on the road.

J.J. Hickson has played much better at home, averaging 18.4 points in his last five games there. He's scored just 10.8 per game in his last five on the road.

The Trail Blazers are hoping to have Wesley Matthews back after the guard sat out against the Jazz because of an ankle injury. Matthews has totaled 56 points on 20-of-32 shooting - including 10 for 13 from long distance - to help Portland win the first two against Minnesota this season.

The Trail Blazers defeated the visiting Timberwolves 103-95 on Nov. 23 before winning at Minnesota 102-97 on Jan. 5. They've won 19 of 21 in the series since the 2007-08 season.

With Matthews leading the way, Portland has torched Minnesota from beyond the arc in the two games this season, hitting 27 of 49 (55.1 percent).

While the Timberwolves (18-26) ranked last in the NBA in defensive 3-point percentage (41.8) in January, they limited New Orleans to 3-of-14 Saturday.

Minnesota, which had lost 11 of its previous 12 overall, looks to win its second straight at home after finishing with season highs in points and field-goal percentage (58.4) in its most lopsided victory of the season Saturday.

"To have a blowout win is something that our team needed at this point," guard Luke Ridnour said. "Hopefully we can build on it."

Dante Cunningham will try to build on his season-high 18 points after he hit all nine shot attempts to set a franchise record for most consecutive field goals without a miss.

Nikola Pekovic had 14 points against the Hornets, and has averaged 19.5 points and 12.5 rebounds against the Trail Blazers this season.

After outscoring New Orleans 58-32 in the paint, the Timberwolves are likely to look inside again Monday. They held a combined 84-56 advantage on points in the paint in the first two meetings against the Trail Blazers.

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Aldridge, Blazers hang on to beat Wolves 100-98

By DAVE CAMPBELLPosted Feb 05 2013 1:06AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) With Portland on the verge of a massive collapse, LaMarcus Aldridge leaped to swat away Minnesota's comeback.

The Trail Blazers started their six-game road trip by remedying a sloppy performance with a large dose of their All-Star big man.

Aldridge had 25 points, 13 rebounds and a blocked shot in the closing seconds to help the Blazers hang on to beat the Timberwolves 100-98 on Monday night for their fifth win in their last seven games.

"Teams are going to pressure us, so I think it's learning," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "But winning on the road is not easy and we needed this one."

Wes Matthews scored 22 points and Damian Lillard added 21, but they each had five of Portland's 28 turnovers, the most in regulation by any NBA team all season. The Blazers never trailed in the game and led by 19 points with 12 minutes left, but the Wolves went to a small lineup and scored on 20 of their first 22 possessions in the fourth quarter until misfiring on their final two.

Lillard had two turnovers in the last 63 seconds, and the second one turned into a fast-break layup for J.J. Barea that cut the lead to 97-96 with 36.9 seconds left.

Aldridge calmly swished a 21-footer, and Dante Cunningham answered with a dunk on the other end. Luke Babbitt missed one of two free throws, giving the Wolves a chance to tie the game. Aldridge walled off the pick-and-roll with Nikola Pekovic, followed Ricky Rubio across the court and deflected his fade-away with 7.9 seconds left.

Asked to describe his clutch shot and block, Aldridge said, "I'll go defense first, because defense wins games." He added: "He tried to lull me to sleep, and I kind of waited on it and blocked it."

Aldridge missed two free throws on the other end, but Cunningham's 18-foot tying attempt fell short.

"Even though we turned the ball over a lot, we let it go. We didn't let it bother us," Lillard said. "We just stayed in the moment and when it came time to get the job done and win the game, we did."

Rubio had 10 of his career-high-tying 14 assists in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points in 34 minutes, both season highs. Cunningham scored a career-high 23 points on 11 for 17 shooting, and Barea added 17 points.

"If we play like that, we can play with anybody," Pekovic said. "It was great that at the end we got a chance to tie the game, but we didn't and probably that's some way of punishment. We didn't play hard for 48 minutes."

Aldridge was 12 for 17 from the field. All but one of his makes were 15-foot jumpers or further out.

Matthews has 78 points in three games against the Wolves this season. He hurt his right ankle on Friday at Utah and was still too sore to play in the rematch against the Jazz on Saturday, but he bounced back just fine.

"The only thing we have to do is bring the energy. Today it was awful in the first quarter. Nobody had any," Rubio said.

Nicolas Batum, his sore right wrist clearly still bothering him, finished with four points and a team-high seven turnovers. He has only 39 points in his last five games, less than half of his season average of nearly 16 points per game.

"If he or the trainer says he can't play, then I can't play him, but he's very important to what we do," Stotts said.

This was only the second time in 20 games all season that Rubio reached double-digit points. No longer on a minutes limit, Rubio is averaging 11.2 points and shooting 46.3 percent in his last five games.

Andrei Kirilenko strained his right quadriceps and left for the locker room late in the second quarter. He had two points in 14 minutes for the Wolves but did not return, yet another injury - whether major or mild - to a key part of what was positioned to be a playoff team this spring for the first time in nine years.

The Wolves lost for the 12th time in their last 14 games.

"You get too far down and it's too hard to come back," coach Rick Adelman said. "Everything's got to be perfect to come back and win that game."

NOTES: Matthews passed Rasheed Wallace and Rudy Fernandez to take eighth place on Portland's all-time list with 374 made 3-pointers. Timberwolves assistant coach Terry Porter is the leader with 773. ... Cunningham's streak of 10 straight field goals made ended in the second quarter. Kevin Garnett and Felton Spencer share the team record with 13. ... The Blazers have won 20 of their last 22 games against the Wolves. ... Minnesota's bench outscored Portland's 57-20.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 100, Timberwolves 98

THE FACTS: After three quarters of generally poorly played basketball, the Portland Trail Blazers were leading by 19 and looked to have the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves well in hand. Minnesota, however, woke up and made a furious 14-2 run, only to fall short, losing 100-98.

The Wolves were utterly comatose in the first half. They tied a season low with 38 first-half points and Portland's starting five outscored Minnesota's 43-18. In fact, in the first half LaMarcus Aldridge had more rebounds (10) and assists (four) than Minnesota's starting five (nine and three, respectively). Dante Cunningham led Minnesota with 23 points off the bench and Ricky Rubio had his strongest game this season, statistically speaking, scoring 15 points and dishing out 14 assists.

Portland got a strong game from LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He made a big basket, giving the Blazers a three-point lead with 27.4 seconds left and could have iced the game with a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds to play. He missed both, however, leaving the door open for the Wolves to tie the game with a two or win with a three. But Cunningham's last-second shot came up short, giving the Blazers the dubious honor of barely winning a game they should have won easily.

QUOTABLE: "Well, obviously, the fourth quarter did not go the way we wanted it to. They picked up their aggressiveness in the second half. We handled it in the third quarter, but we were loose with the ball most of the night. Some of that was their defense. Some of that was on us, but we led start to finish and it's good to get a win on the road."

-- Portland coach Terry Stotts

THE STAT: Portland shot 58.6 percent from the field, but cancelled their hot shooting out by committing a season-high 28 turnovers. Those turnovers led to more than one-third of Minnesota's points (33). Minensota was outrebounded 45-38, but dominated Portland in points-in-the-paint, 46-24.

TURNING POINT: Minnesota looked utterly lost for most of the first half. The point at which it first showed some heart came in the third quarter. After trailing by as many as 13, the Wolves made their first run and closed the Blazers' lead to three. Their second run came in the fourth quarter when they whittled down a 19-point Portland lead, twice getting within one point.

QUOTABLE II: "We cannot come out and play for 30 minutes in a 48-minute game. And we did that tonight. We had no energy at the start. I don't know if they thought that we found something in the last game (a victory over New Orleans), but we came out and pretty much let them do anything they wanted to do."

-- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman

NOTABLE: Minnesota forward Andrei Kirilenko left with 1:19 to play in the second quarter with a right quad strain. ... Portland is 3-0 against Minnesota this season and has won 20 of the last 22 contests against Minnesota.